Orthodontic treatment is applied for repositioning teeth and supporting structures to improve tooth function and aesthetics. In conventional orthodontic treatment, appliances such as braces are applied to the patient's teeth by an orthodontist. Over time, the continuing force exerted by the appliance can urge teeth toward more favorable positions, often providing movement to the teeth in incremental steps with successive treatments.
Aspects of tooth function that are studied as part of orthodontics and other restorative treatments include proper occlusion, so that teeth in the upper jaw work successfully with corresponding teeth in the lower jaw. Occlusion determines how opposing teeth are positioned relative to each other, come into contact, and interact with each other in normal movement.
To define a specific dental treatment such as orthodontics or a restorative treatment in conventional practice, dentists typically manipulate one or more casts obtained from a patient's dental arches. One conventional method forms an occlusogram that displays the intersection between opposite teeth, using translucent papers, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,293,567 entitled “System of Dental Charts and Method of Making the Same” to Stanton. Using the cast, the projection of the teeth of the lower dental arch on an axial (horizontal) plane is reproduced on a first translucent paper. The projection of the teeth of the upper dental arch is reproduced on a second translucent paper. Both papers are then superimposed, providing a representation of the occlusal conditions. By dragging one of the translucent papers relative to the other, a representation of new occlusal conditions can be obtained.
With the advent of digital imaging, there have been a number of solutions proposed for representing and displaying dental occlusion using information obtained from captured image data. Information for mapping, measurement, and analysis of occlusion conditions can be digitally obtained and processed to help support the orthodontist or other dental practitioner in correcting problems and in providing the best arrangement of tooth structures for this purpose.
Methods for display of maxillary (upper) and mandibular (lower jaw) arch structures, beyond providing some idea of overall tooth registration, do not provide detailed three-dimensional (3-D) information about occlusion. Most of the occlusal surfaces are not visible in conventional cast manipulation. Cross-sectional and slice-by-slice views provide some level of detail, but only over a limited region. Even where virtual modeling techniques are used, however, information provided about occlusion is generally limited to data that identifies contact points.
Advances in the development and visualization of virtual arches provide some measure of useful information, such as data on distances between opposing occlusal surfaces, using a color-coded or gray-level encoded mapping, for example. This type of visualization can help to provide information useful for registration of the upper and lower arches. However, distance mapping yields only limited information on how teeth in the upper and lower jaws work together to chew efficiently. In practice, as the patient chews a meal, the meal is compressed between features such as cusps and ridges of opposing teeth. This type of compression generates a pressure-field that is distributed over a region. The pressure at any point over the pressure field varies, depending on factors such as distance from contact points and interaction between different pressure fields as the meal is chewed.
Because of the complex nature of information that is obtained from the interaction of opposing sets of teeth, the task of evaluating and correcting occlusion can be challenging when using conventional tools. Thus, there is a need for more accurate utilities and techniques for measuring and reporting pressure fields for occlusion.